Robert Lanfear
My current research focusses on understanding the evolutionary forces that shape genomes and ecosystems. Most evolutionary processes (such as mutation, selection, substitution and gene duplication) leave traces in the genomes of living organisms. Much of my work has focussed on developing methods to detect these traces, and then using them to test evolutionary hypotheses.
During my PhD at the University of Sussex (UK) I spent most of my time at the lab bench, studying the evolution of segmentation in the animal phyla. I am currently a postdoc in Lindell Bromham’s lab at the Australian National University.
Current Projects
1. Phylogenetic approaches to macroecology
Phylogenies often contain historical signals about the processes of speciation, extinction and invasion. I am working with Lindell Bromham on developing new methods to detect these processes using community-level phylogenies.
2. The evolution of mitochondrial genomes
Mitochondrial DNA is still the marker of choice for many applications in biological sciences, but surprisingly little is understood about the evolutionary forces which have shaped this genome. In most animals, the mitochondrial genome encodes 13 proteins which have vital roles in the process of respiration. However, it has recently been suggested that these proteins also serve to protect mitochondrial DNA from damage. In collaboration with John Welch (Montpellier) I am working on testing these hypotheses, and more generally to understand how mutation, selection, and life-history have shaped mitochondrial genomes in animals.
3. Understanding why rates of molecular evolution vary
It has been known for some time that the rates of genomic change differ significantly among different taxa. There are a huge number of hypotheses as to why this might be the case, but testing these hypotheses can be tricky. Becuase of that, I have been working to develop new statistical tests which will allow us to assess differences in rates of molecular evolution. Further to that, and in collaboration with many other researchers, I am using large DNA datasets from birds and plants to try and understand how geography, life-history, and speciation interact to affect rates of molecular evolution.
Publications
Thomas JA*, Welch JJ*, Lanfear R, and Bromham L (2010) A generation time effect on the rate of molecular evolution in invertebrates. Molecular Biology and Evolution. (* equal first authors) advance access
Ho SYW and Lanfear R (2009) Mito-communications: (i) Mitochondrial phylogeography of house mice, (ii) Two migration routes for the first Americans, (iii) The influence of altitude on mitochondrial evolution in mammals, (iv) Extreme organization, (v) The effective population size of mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondrial DNA, 20(4): 65-68. pdf
Bourlat SJ, Rota-Stabelli O, Lanfear R, and Telford MJ (2009) The mitochondrial genome structure of Xenoturbella bocki (phylum Xenoturbellida) is ancestral within the deuterostomes. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 9:107. pdf
Lanfear R and Ho SYW (2009) Mito-communications: (i) Age-related selection in mitochondrial genomes, (ii) Mitochondrial evolution in tuatara, (iii) Mitochondrial genome of the thylacine. Mitochondrial DNA, 20: 1-2. pdf
Lanfear R (2009) Are the Deuterostome Posterior Hox genes a Fast-Evolving Class? In: Deutsch, J Hox Genes’ Studies from the 20th to the 21st Century. London: Landes Bioscience pdf
Pueyo JI*, Lanfear R*, Couso JP (2008) Ancestral Notch-mediated Segmentation Revealed in the Cockroach P. americana. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105(43): 16614-16619. (* equal first authors) pdf Appendix commentary
Lanfear R, Bromham L (2008) Statistical Tests Between Competing Hypotheses of Hox Cluster Evolution. Systematic Biology 57(5):1-11 pdf F1000 Appendices Python script
Lanfear R, Thomas JA, Welch JJ, Brey T, Bromham L (2007) Metabolic rate does not calibrate the molecular clock. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104(39): 15388-15393. pdf F1000 Data